Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Chop, Chop, Chop

I've been so swamped with paid work this month that I haven't had time to work on my novel (10-years-in-the making now and recently returned from two industry readers with similar remarks). I actually ended up taking a class recently (I had the opportunity to take it for free nearby, and figured WTF).

The class was supposed to be about the novel, but ended up being a pretty run-of-the-mill fiction workshop. The effect on me was astounding anyway. Must have been just the right moment because I had quite an epiphany, realizing I need to lop off the last 250 pages (many years of my life right there) and focus on staying in the story, which unfolds pretty well in the first 100 pages. (I got too big with the idea, not too small: also a danger.)

It's a huge thing to do, I realize.

It changes everything.

But I think it's right.

This revelation dawned on me in the class when people were telling this one woman that she needed to stop trying to write like writers she admired, and write like herself. Not that I have that particular problem, but I was imposing something on the novel that doesn't belong to it. A cumbersome structure, it turns out.

So, anyway, I am eager to push through my current dreadful, dull work deadlines to get to the novel. At the same time I'm totally freaked out about the economy and don't want my paid work to dry up. What a crazy balancing act.

I'm taking a meat clever to the manuscript as soon as possible. Has anyone else ever done this? I wonder if there are historical examples of a similar process. Anyway, wish me luck.

The first time I had to do this was at the behest of an agent who refused to read my book because it was 800 pages long (what did I know?). "Cut it in half and I'll read it." I didn't think I could - I felt it was like a sculpture and what was he expecting me to do, lop off an arm or a leg? But when I began, it was suddenly revelatory and I actually enjoyed it. I cut 400 pages from that first book, which was its length when it was eventually published this year.

Isn't it interesting how writing classes can work? Sometimes other people's struggles with their work can shine unexpected light on our own. And all you have to do is be there. It's not like other kinds of classes, with information pouring from the top down...

TEN (!) years, 250 freaking pages. Do you wonder sometimes if it's worth it?How long will the finished product be? Will you add on at the point of amputation?I find that a lot of novels fade off at the end. Unravel. My theory is that the authors didn't know where they were going when they set out. I'm not advocating rigidity, but I think you should have a good sense of where your story winds up, what state your characters end up in (Ohio? Idaho?). Think these things out before beginning to tap away!A lot of writers/teachers of writing advocate NOT knowing where you're going. This is based, I believe, on a romantic falacy: the muse will lead you. (I also have an aversion to the word "epiphany.")Many novels were drastically shortened at the behest of the editor -- the most famous example being Thomas Wolfe/Maxwell Perkins.

My novel gets better everytime I chop large chunks out. The first time I restarted in a different POV--there went 200 pages. I got the voice and the story right in my 2nd start/revision...and got up to about 150 pages (somewhere in the middle)

Now I'm starting over again, to gather up the characters. That's throwing away those 150 pages.

I am one of those writers who don't revise a novel--I just start over fresh, trying not to purposefully reuse the previous draft.

Rules of the Game

4) Be nice to one another. The world is already overpopulated with asses.

Guess What?

After 15 years of rejections (most of them posted here along with all the rejections you've sent me over the years), my novel is getting published by a literary press. Little third-gendered me will soon have a book you can read for yourself and see if the hundreds of rejections were misguided or not. For more on the matter, read this post and this one too.

People Magazine Picks Miracle Girls

What the What? (This is actually for real.)

ew.com blog review

"Failure is the New Funny. Whether you're a writer ... or a bookworm ... Literary Rejections on Display is worth checking out."

Huff Po Compliment

"A highly entertaining blog."

The Millions Assesses

"An answer to what to do with your rejections: throw them away, but first, complain about them on the internet!"

Gawker Gawks LROD

"A reminder of the competitive pressures that help drive some authors to start plagiarizing and making things up."

GALLEYCAT Chimes In

"Excellent blog."

The Boston Phoenix Rises

"Might we suggest whiling away the hours with Literary Rejections On Display? We've been hooked for the last couple of weeks..."

Psych Today Puts LROD On The Couch

"An author who, like the rest of us, experiences many more rejections than acceptances."

Blogher Offers a Female Nod

"And since something isn't really something until there's a blog about it, I give you Literary Rejections on Display."

Poets & Writers Questions LROD

"Isn't it part of the writer's job to learn from--rather than reject--rejection?"

HTML GIANT Confesses

"I am sort of addicted to this site. I go through phases: I check it regularly, then I stop myself and ignore it for several months. Then I remember it again and sift through its wreckage."

The Village Voice Bitches About LROD

"Deliberately composed of unpublished individuals who wear their rejection slips as badges of integrity."

Cape Cod Times Gets the Joke

"Caschetta’s wit sparkles in “Literary Rejections on Display,” a humorous and intelligent look at the literary world"